My daughter is 15 months old. She has started playing make believe and pretending to "bake" and "eat" imaginary things and toys. She also gives us some so we can eat and go "miummm...", which makes her so happy! She loves this new game!

This said, I don't want to discourage her from using her imagination or refusing the "food gift" she offers, but I don't know how to go about this and still teach her good habits about NO food sharing... well, as much as a 15 month old can understand.

I think at this age she's pretending to be a "mommy". Why don't you ask her what's in the food and if she's read the ingredients?
My daughter got mad at me around this age when I offered her a piece of my banana (hadn't peeled it yet). "We don't share our food, Mommy!" I explained about cross contamination and that yes, we might eat the same foods but we divide it up onto our own plates first.
Little ones understand more than we give them credit for. Pretend playing with her will allow you both to explore her concerns and teach her the words she needs to have later when real life situations come up.

I agree with Susan 100%
We also did the rollplaying with food. For awhile we actually called her donut a bagel since I make safe bagels, but that was really the only difference for us. Now she calls it a donut.
I started with simple things like if she'd ask me if I wanted a bagel I'd say "oh, I have to ask my Mommy first" Or "Does it have peanuts" As she got older of course it would change depending on how the play went. She also went through a period that I was horrid with about pretending everything did have peanuts, sesame, egg (and soy at the time). But at 4 she gets it. She doesn't share food. When we go to her grandparent's house she asks them to read the labels (even when I 'm there) and I've put her in (safe) situations where she was able to be tested. Like a birthday party and the Dad asked if she could have cake. I asked him to ask her, he asked me afterwards if it was a test. LOL Anyways, she said no because she had her own treat from home.

All this to say, rollplaying with pretend food can play a very important role to give them the tools they need later in life

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 3 guests

You cannot post new topics in this forumYou cannot reply to topics in this forumYou cannot edit your posts in this forumYou cannot delete your posts in this forumYou cannot post attachments in this forum